


Before He Was Gone

by setsurislight



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Trauma, pre-game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27357655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setsurislight/pseuds/setsurislight
Summary: In the months leading up to the separation of the Sage Family, Kloitz and Virginia start running out of options to keep their family safe. Soon, the only option appears to be taking their children to the legendary Otherworldly Gate, a portal that exists between worlds. Raine recalls the last memories she had of her father.  (The events of this story take place 12 years prior to the start of Tales of Symphonia)
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

“Raine, honey. Wake up, my angel.”

Ah, what a comforting voice. It was all too familiar to her, gentle and caring, dependable, strong. It was her father beaming from a distance, trying to get her attention as her mind wriggled out of the sweet dream that she wouldn’t remember after she woke. It took a minute for her trance to dull, and the young girl squeezed her eyes with her knuckles and frowned, rolling over in the backyard’s hammock and pretending that she didn’t know he was hovering near.

“Raine!”

It turns out she had rolled just a bit too far, and the hammock’s center of gravity swayed, making her tumble off of it for a split second. Just when she expected to hit the ground, an arm stopped her fall underneath her knees, and she could feel a hand catch the top of her back. Raine’s eyes shot open, and she let out a gasp when her heart jumped. She could feel the muscles in her arms tense.

“Safe!” Kloitz exclaimed, bellowing a laugh and setting Raine down. 

“Hey! I was really scared father!” she shot back, jumping up and dusting herself off. Her head just barely brushed the webbing of the hanging bed above her. She stepped forward and brushed the hair back into place, then balling her hands into fists and anchoring them on her hips.

“It’s your own fault, kiddo.” he took his thumb and index finger, pinching the end of her nose. After a discontented whine from the girl, he rested his arm on his raised leg, crouching on the ground barely under his daughter’s gaze.

“You’re growing by the day! Any time now you’ll be as tall as your mother. You’ve already got the beautiful part down, so I don’t even have to mention that!” he laughed. Raine grumbled incoherently and put the palm of her hand over her eyes.

“Father…you’re embarrassing me!”

“That’s my job as a father.”

“I wish that you’d get a new occupation then!” she pouted.

“That’s harsh! I’m really hurt!” he laughed and stood up. "You can't fire me! I'll unionize!"

Raine looked nothing like Kloitz– a towering man in her eyes, with light brown hair and “normal” ears; he was a human, and Virginia had been an elf. Raine looked almost identical to Virginia; her blue-gray eyes, silver hair, and pointed ears were nothing like her father’s features. Even her newborn brother looked like Virginia. If she hadn’t known the sciences better, she would have guessed that Elven blood was much stronger than human when it came to the fertilization process, but from the books she read she knew it was a 50/50 exchange. Fate just made it so the siblings looked more like elves, she supposed. She dearly wished at times that she looked more like her father, though. She felt more comfortable around him because of his carefree and fun-loving nature. Her mother tended to be rather strict and distant, especially lately.

Kloitz held his hand out to the girl, and the smile faded from his face. Raine always knew what this gesture meant. For some time now they had been running away. Her parents had sat her down and told her that nasty men from a research lab were chasing them around the continent. They wanted to kidnap Raine for examination and experiments, but her mother and father wouldn’t let that happen. Every time her father would look down with a vacant smile she knew that they had to get moving again or else they would be captured. 

They never stayed in one place for too long, fearing that their whereabouts would be discovered. The family camped or stayed in strange homes for two weeks at most, and then kept moving. Raine felt like they had been all around Tethe'alla by now, but she knew that was just an exaggeration.

She took her father’s hand with both of her own, squeezing it lightly and leaning her head on the backside of her palm as she did so. This usually helped him smile again-- or at least he claimed it made him happy. Raine knew this routine of leaving all too well. Virginia would be waiting in the house or inn, frantically holding Genis in her arms, and they would set off with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the small amount of gald in their pockets. Occasionally they would take food for travel, if they had any.

“Papa, is there going to be a day where we don’t have to run anymore?” Raine looked up at her father with wide eyes filled with expectations.

Kloitz held on tighter to her hand and there was a short moment of bewilderment. Raine was wise beyond her years. At eleven years old, she understood that all of this was necessary and never complained when they didn’t have a home to belong to.

“Yes,” he whispered shakily. “There certainly will be,” he gripped at his chest, looking towards the house where his wife stood in the doorway. He led his daughter forward in silence, not being able to find the words that might cheer her up. He didn’t know how many months, or how many years it might take, but they would be safe. They would all be safe. That’s what he kept telling himself.

“We’re going on a boat this time, Raine. From there, we’re going to see if we can get to Exire, the City in the sky, where people like us might be accepted. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find a home we don’t have to run away from? I think it would. If….that doesn’t work out, then there’s only one more thing we could do. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.” The Legendary OtherWorldly Gate. Did it really exist? It would have to be their last option.

“Okay.”

“I just hope that we make it there without it being our last journey together…” he mumbled.

“Did you say something father?”

“No, my heart, it was nothing.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their way to the Otherworldly Gate, the moment that would cause Raine's aquaphobia occurs when the Sage family's getaway ship encounters an unpredicted storm. Raine grows tired of running away and tensions grow between Virginia and her daughter.

There they were, on the rocking ocean waters, hand-in-hand staring over the railing of the cargo ship. To the left there was Kloitz, practically towering over them all. A child was next at an average height for most eleven year old girls, in the middle of the interracial group of outcasts. With one hand she grasped her father’s, and with the other hand, she grabbed a handful of the fabric on her mother’s green jacket. The older woman held a snoozing child in her arm. He moved his head from side to side into his mother’s chest, making a small clicking sound as he exhaled a squeaky yawn.

The captain called down from the uppermost part of the vehicle from behind the creaking wooden wheel that served to steer the ship. There would be a storm approaching, and they would have to brace themselves for unsafe waters. As it was, this ship wasn’t supposed to be supporting any passengers to begin with. Kloitz had made a hasty deal with the captain before departure, fearing that they were being followed by the Imperial Research Academy once more. He knew that if they waited one more morning for a commercial passenger ship it might be too late. He needed to protect his family, so this was what he had to do to ensure their safety.

“Father, we won’t have to keep running for much longer will we?” the young silver-haired girl looked up curiously at her father, her eyes glittering with anticipation and hope. She knew that she had asked this same question over and over again, but in truth she was growing stressed and weary. It had been far too long since this all started. She was sick and tired of leaving every home she ever knew behind. She was thin and her legs often ached from all of the walking they had to do. It was certainly something no child should ever have to endure.

The brown-haired man looked down at her and felt something inside of his heart get crushed. He hated having to force all of them to keep moving on but… there was nothing Kloitz could do. This was all he was capable of to keep his children free. He felt helpless, looking at his own daughter caught by the hands of misfortune. Eventually, they might start searching for his son as well. Kloitz cast his gaze down to the floor of the ship with a frown and bit down on his bottom lip. 

“No… it won’t be too much longer, Raine, honey. It’ll be over soon.” Kloitz glanced over to his wife Virginia, who wore a pained expression and stared at him unblinking. There appeared to be guilt on her face, and her eyes had just barely been watering. They knew something the child did not, and seemed to have a silent conversation of solemn regret between themselves as Raine pouted and swayed on the floor beneath them. Virginia turned her head away as if to prevent herself from crying. Her daughter thought her to be indifferent, staring out into the rough waters to search for their next destination.

Unsatisfied by her father’s answer, Raine couldn’t bring herself to hold her father’s hand any longer. As her fingers untangled from his, she also averted her gaze from him. He couldn’t say a word of comfort, so he just dropped his arm down hesitantly and watched his daughter walk forward to the railing, looking out over the blackened waters and up to the sliver of a moon up in the sky. She leaned her hand against the metal bar as if it were a source of comfort for her and gripped it with trembling hands. The bar cooled her forehead and she felt fog in her mind dissipate. She was just… tired of all of it.

“Raine, darling, don’t stand so close to the edge of the boat.” Virginia whispered just loud enough for her to hear. Raine turned her head back and sucked on her tooth, making a small “tut” sound before she rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to beyond what the boat had to offer her. There had been a wall built between Raine and Virginia ever since this chase had all started. Raine had always favored her father, but now it seemed as if she just couldn’t stand her mother, for little reason at all. Virginia gave a small gasp, and with a squeak in her voice the only thing that would escape her lips was a sigh.

It had nothing to do with Genis’ birth. There was no one-sided sibling rivalry between Raine and her brother. She really couldn’t place her finger on it. Her mother had just seemed so out of reach over the past year, and so she had become bitter about it. Virginia never seemed interested in what she had to say. She still loved her dearly, somewhere deep down in her heart, but at this point in the half-elf’s short life, the only person she felt comfortable counting on was her father. Even when she complained of her boredom, or the discontent with eating the same meals over again, or her sadness at having to leave personal belongings behind, Kloitz always listened to her.

Virginia clutched onto Genis even tighter as she gulped back the lump that was forming in her throat. Kloitz moved closer to his wife and patted her on the back to help her relax. Raine could feel the cold mist of ocean water spray up onto her face as the waves hitting the boat became more turbulent. They must have been close to entering the storm, because it was getting harder and harder to hold onto the railing. The bar had only been built to the height just below her chin. Perhaps in a passenger ship with safety precautions it would have been sturdier.

The deck of the ship was getting even more slippery as the minutes past, and the sprinkle of raindrops began to create an even bigger problem for the girl, yet she did all she could to hang on. The waves were then crashing around the sides of the boat. Virginia had retreated under the staircase leading towards the crew’s quarters in order to protect herself and Genis, but Kloitz was slowly walking towards his daughter, trying in vain to keep his own balance in the process.

The captain of the ship was yelling something incoherent to the young girl, but the little bit she could here was at the end of his shrieks, “Hit the deck!” and “Be careful, wave ahead!”. Raine started to feel an ominous foreboding take over her thoughts. She had been trying to act brave and independent just a few minutes ago, willing to brave the storm out on the deck without her parents’ help… but now she was actually feeling scared. Being jerked back and forth, she struggled to hang on, but she looked back at her father who stumbled across the wooden planks, a few yards away from her.

“Father….?”

Raine felt soaked to the bone, and before she had any time to react her side of the boat violently dipped down deeper to the waters. Her foot tried to grip for resistance on the planks under her feet but the water made her slip and she fell backwards. Her whole body was lifted into the air, and as the boat lurched forward, she was flung out over the railing. Raine reached out towards her father, though disoriented and tumbling through the air. She could just barely see her father diving forward, stopping just short of the railing. It was too late though. Raine’s leg had already banged against the top of it, and she was out of reach.

“Father!” she screamed, as a sound escaped her father’s lungs as well. He was calling her name back, she believed, but it was muffled by the violent waves around her.

She dove head-first into the waves, with her arm still extended, though she couldn’t tell what direction she was facing at this point. Her body stiffened as she relaxed under the freezing surface. She had only the light of the stars and moon to guide her back up for air. Miraculously, within only a few seconds she regained her sensibility through a burst of energy and brought herself upwards, kicking with all of her might. She was never the best swimmer, but in her panic she remembered how to tread water. It just didn’t make much difference as each wave threatened to dunk her back underneath and steal the breath from her lungs.

“Don’t–don’t leave me behind, Mother…Genis… Father!” she cried, desperately treading water, coughing and gasping. The salt stung her eyes, so she had to repeatedly close them while trying to keep her head above the water, occasionally sucking in the ocean’s mist. She could see the ship moving away from her, its structure getting smaller as the ocean seemed to swallow it whole. Would they just keep going and cut their losses?

“I’m sorry! Please!” she coughed. The salt water stung her throat.

“…Don’t… leave me…”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine is saved from drowning at sea, but this leads to Kloitz and Virginia realizing that they must hasten their plans to ensure the safety of the family. Kloitz tells Raine a bedtime story.

It felt like an eternity before the boat started to change its course. Raine had gone underwater at least four more times before it came close enough for Kloitz to jump overboard to come to her rescue. Each time it was becoming more difficult to resurface, as the young girl’s arms were weakened by the freezing temperatures, and her long jacket was bogging her down and creating resistance, pulling with the waves. Her body was doing everything it could do to stay conscious, and her shivering had started to become violent. No more screams could be heard from the waves, as that would have wasted more energy. For her own chances of survival, she focused all of her strength on moving towards the ship.  
Kloitz swam forward at three times the stride of his daughter. Besides a few walls of saltwater to his face he was able to stay afloat and when he got to her, he was able to secure her into a life jacket. By that time she was wheezing and breathing heavily. It seemed that she had almost hit her limit. He grabbed the rope attached to her floatation device and began heaving them both back towards safety. In the meantime, the crew had hoisted and lowered a bright orange rescue boat over the side and readjusted the spotlights so that they could easily find it. They shouted directions at them and each other over the railing, but all of the noise was drowned out by the storm. 

When they neared the ship, Kloitz hoisted his daughter into the raft when they were lifted by a wave, and scrambled up over the side a moment later. The raft was starting to fill with water, and so both of them started setting to work on using their hands to make the raft lighter. Five or six men on board the ship started cranking the rope to lift the two passengers back into the deck. The Sages did their best to move against the sway of the waves so that the vessel didn’t capsize and send them flying back into the water. After about ten minutes of fighting the storm, they were lifted above the deck so that they could climb back down. Raine’s legs were too shaky to walk, and so her father carried her across his shoulder and moved towards the stairs to get into the cabin. One of the crew members with medical training followed them down into an empty room that served as their quarters.

Kloitz dried his daughter off with some towels that the crew fetched, and she was given a sleeping gown and warm bathrobe that dragged on the floor. Her shivering had weakened, but her face was still bright red. The crew that followed them entered the room to start an examination, and concluded that she was alright, but very likely in shock, and she needed some hot fluids and food to warm her up, followed by some sleep. They informed the Sages that the captain was changing course to steer clear of choppy waters, and that the trip would be extended. Kloitz sat there in silence once they left the room and tried to comfort his daughter, but as soon as the door shut Raine started bawling her eyes out. It seemed to all hit her at once.

Eventually Kloitz changed as well, and Virginia entered the room with Genis and extra blankets. Another member of the crew, looking to be some kind of sous chef from the kitchen came carrying a tray of food right behind her. The ship was rocking far less, which means that the captain had managed to sail into safer waters for the time being. Raine still sniffled uncontrollably, but managed to calm enough to be able to eat. She retreated to the corner of the room because leaning against the solid wooden walls she felt safer and more present. Virginia wrapped her arm around her daughter, and Raine tensed in return, feeling incredibly guilty over what happened before she fell overboard. The half-elf tried to find the words to apologize to her mother, but she just shook her head and reassured her that nothing needed to be said.  
“It’s okay dear. It’s okay. You’re safe now and that is all that matters to me. Look how happy Genis is to see you. See? He is clinging to you. He must be so relieved. Maybe you should hold him for a while.”

Raine looked at the baby in her lap. Genis cooed happily, bound tightly in a bundle. Her eyes widened and she wrapped her arms around him. He seemed troubled at the frown that Raine had, but continued babbling nonsense at her as Kloitz made funny faces across the room. His daughter could no longer look him in the eyes. He shuffled over to her corner and took her brother out of her arms, cradling him so that she could try to eat the stew a few inches before her knees. She tried, but started feeling ill after three spoonfuls. The meal was shoved to the side, and Raine wrapped her arms around her knees.

After a long silence, Virginia cracked the door open and gestured to her husband to come out of the room and into the hallway for a discussion. Their soft whispers were muffled, but Raine could occasionally catch some of their conversation. From what she gathered, they seemed to be in distress and mentioned changing course and taking a detour. Raine didn’t know if it was the captain’s choice due to the storm, or whether they had inquired with the crew. Something was happening in a week’s time, and Virginia insisted something occur “before it was too late to change our minds”. Most of what she had gleaned didn’t make sense, and Raine’s mind was too foggy to investigate any further. If it was something important, she was sure that her parents would explain it to prepare her for the road ahead. After all, deep down she trusted her parents and knew that they thought her to be mature enough to understand their reasoning. 

…Right?

A short silence engulfed the parents, followed by the fading sound of footsteps. Virginia must have been going to talk to the crew once more. Kloitz slid back into the doorway without Genis this time, and proceeded to coax his daughter to lie down on the small, uncomfortable mattress of the lower bunk. Raine tossed and turned until she found a comfortable place where the boards underneath her back didn’t hurt as much. She had one pillow underneath her head and hugged the other. She still found it difficult to stop grinding her teeth, but began to relax more after her father rubbed her shoulder and reminded her that she was safe now.

Kloitz was always good at keeping things together. Rarely ever did his true feelings betray his expression. His smile was warm and soft, but in this moment, Raine caught his lip quivering as he told her a story to put her to sleep. The story was of an adventurer with a face burned in an accident that travelled across the world in search of a brighter future. Everywhere he turned the villages would reject him for some superficial reason. One village told him that his nose was too round. One told him that his tattered clothes were an eyesore. One thought him too weak to help in the mines. Another simply told him that they were full up, and needed no more mouths to feed. Each time, the adventurer graciously accepted his fate and moved on to the next town. He found that life on the road suited him just fine, and the merchant caravans he met on the way became old friends. He lived on the roadside, hunting and gathering, until the day when he was visited by a goddess in his dreams.

The goddess asked him what his one true desire in life was. He needed no time to formulate an answer, and told her that he simply wanted a place that he could call home, and others that loved him unconditionally and without fear. The goddess smiled at him and told him that after searching the entire world, there was no place here for him to fulfill his dreams. The man began to weep. What cruelty was this, to dash the hopes of a man just looking for acceptance? The goddess waited for him to calm and told him not to worry; if this world was not ready to love a soul as gentle as his then he would find a new world instead. When the adventurer awoke, he was in a completely different place than where he had fallen asleep. The trees were a deep shade of red and leaves had fallen to the earth, whereas he fell asleep amongst the pines. When the sun rose, the dawn bathed the earth in red-orange light, and for the first time in years he felt hopeful. Driven by intuition, he walked north until he found a village.

He pleaded with the villagers to let him build a home for himself in exchange for becoming a guardsman or hunter. They all spoke in a strange accent he had never heard before, and he had travelled everywhere on his world. The villagers felt such pity that a man could bow so low and feel the need to beg for taking up space. Quickly, they showered him with warm furs and led him to a place where he could bathe. The entire village put together a grand feast to welcome him with open arms. The adventurer knew that day that the goddess had transported him to some unknown place. Here, he could finally build a home. He never looked back, and he was always grateful for the kindness he was shown. 

Raine’s eyes drooped with exhaustion, and she soon fell asleep. It was not a restful night, after the fright that she had falling into the ocean she had many nightmares. However, in between those nightmares where she shot up in bed, Raine found herself dreaming of this story. How nice it must be to have a home. She wished with all her heart that she did. Maybe the goddess would be kind to her one day as well. Unlike the man in the story, she still had yet to search the whole world.

  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raine starts to disassociate while dealing with the trauma of her near-death experience. She ponders a homemade gift to soothe her worries. Meanwhile, Kloitz has asked the captain of the ship to redirect their course for a small island ruin, The Otherworldly Gate, finding no other options to keep his children safe.

The next morning brought with it mixed blessings for the adolescent half-elf. On one hand, seeing the sun break through the clouds was a welcome gift. In the distance she could still see the taunting darkness of the endless, open sea. At least here in this moment, she felt a calmness and slight reprieve from fear and danger. The waves beneath the ship were still choppy, but she made no move to go anywhere near the railings until they disembarked from the ship. On the other hand, when she woke up her eyes had been sore and puffy from crying most of the night through. Whenever she looked beyond their vessel, she would freeze up and relive the events of the night before. She imagined herself, or another version of herself, out there in the middle of nowhere. She was being dragged down further underneath the waters, and no matter how hard she kicked she could not surface. Something grabbed her ankles, and she could hear a reverberating siren song in the depths below.

It might have seemed silly for a girl her age, especially one that prided herself on her maturity so much, but Raine chose to walk around the ship clutching onto a small homemade doll for company. She was growing a bit too old for such a toy, and only ever really took it out of her knapsack to sleep with at night, but today she felt it bring her some strength. Raine would walk about ten feet towards her destination before stopping in her tracks to stare at the old ratty thing. She found that doing so grounded her. All of the crew that came into contact with her that day merely watched as she performed this warding ritual. They felt empathy for her, and in a sense they all knew she was just learning of her own mortality. They could do nothing for the girl except stay out of her way as she found the will to keep moving forward.

This doll she held was made from old burlap sacks that they found while staying in a kind stranger’s storehouse. Virginia had stuffed it with hay and told Raine that whenever she felt alone, to hug it close and know that it was made with love, and therefore carried magic. Raine thought it was the most hideous thing, with its empty button eyes and stringy yarn hair. Still, with no one else to talk to while fleeing from town to town, the girl found herself speaking to the object to vent some of her frustrations. How she had always wished for a friend her age to speak with. Now, this was starting to feel like the only chance she would get. This stupid, ugly little baby doll that felt itchy to the touch. Still. It was better than nothing.

Kloitz and Virginia had been awake for some time now, and it was obvious that they had not gotten a lot of rest themselves. They sat on the ground of the main deck while Virginia fed Genis, covered in a white sheet stained yellow with age and seawater. They both seemed quiet. It was unusual for her father, who was always so chatty. He worshiped the ground that Virginia walked on. Her mother had often rolled her eyes with feigned annoyance and said he talked far too much. Today seemed to be a different story, though. Raine might have pondered it more if she had been able to focus. Instead, she let her feet carry her towards the Helmsman of the ship. He did not seem bothered by the child who stared wide-eyed at the wheel.

“Hey there, little lady. Quite a scare you had there.”  


“Yes, sir.” She hugged the doll. They shared a few minutes of silence.  


“We’re changin’ course ‘cause of the storms for a few days. There’s an island here we dock at sometimes to wait out the weather. When we get there, the moon’s gonna be real big and close to us. Nothing better for morale than seein’ the beauty of nature.”  


Raine nodded. It was going to be a full moon in a few days. He was right. Sometimes while running it was hard to keep track of what day it was, but it was possible that there was a supermoon happening soon.  


“You like lookin’ at the stars, little one?”  


“I always know where to run when I look up.” The girl shrugged. 

There was a time where she could say she was fascinated by the expanse of the world above. However, Virginia and Kloitz had taught her astronomy as a means to navigate. If they were ever found by the church soldiers or Imperial Research footmen, they would be guided by the stars and constellations to meet up with one another in case they were ever separated. The stars were always her escape plan, so they made her more sad than awestruck.  


The helmsman cleared his throat. He asked the girl if she wanted to steer the ship for awhile, and so for a few minutes she held on while the man steadied the wheel above her with the correct heading. Soon, she grew distracted again and informed him that she was going to find her parents. He took full control of the wheel again and waved her off. Virginia and Kloitz could no longer be found on the main deck, and so their daughter decided that they had returned to their room. Once more, the child froze on the staircase to stare out into the waters before going below deck.

There were voices coming from inside the storage room that served as their chambers. It was quiet, but it sounded like Virginia and Kloitz were having an argument. In whispered tones, Raine pressed her ear to the door to spy on what they were saying. She could only decipher so much through the wood, but it was enough to worry her. This happened often enough, and usually it meant that they would have to start fleeing again. Where would it be to next? A nice oasis? A mountain pass? A hidden village? It was starting to feel like they were running out of places in this world to run.

From what she could glean, her mother had been asking her father if what they were doing was the right thing. Raine didn’t understand. The other option would be giving her and Genis away to the researchers in Sybak, right? She decided not to rush to any conclusions and kept silent. Kloitz assured her that they were running out of time, options, and places to hide. Wherever they went when they reached land again, Raine started to think that maybe it would be their last chance. She knew that the stakes were dire, but she didn’t think that they were at the end of their journey just yet.

“We could try, just give it one more month until the next one. One more month, Kloitz, please.”  


“You and I both know how hard it was getting onto this ship. We have to do this now, or else there’s no guarantee that we can make it back here.”

And so Virginia started to cry. Feeling his mother quake against him also made her brother cry, so Raine figured that the conversation was not about to yield any more information. She swung the door open and stared at her parents with a blank gaze. Her father’s expression chanced from a grim darkness to his normal bubbly self. Virginia wiped away her tears and smiled at her as well, which felt very suspicious. Virginia wasn’t usually one to hide her feelings in front of her own daughter. 

Kloitz pulled his daughter into a hug and told her all about the trip to the island and the full moon they would be seeing. Raine didn’t want to correct him by mentioning that she had learned of this from the helmsman. They went about their day as normal. Raine stayed in the room for most of it, so she could avoid looking out to sea. Her meals were brought to her and her father stepped in every hour or so to tell her a joke to make her laugh. She wasn’t really in the mood, but something about the way he was acting seemed off. She felt that maybe she should just indulge him and cherish his goofy personality if there were to be rough days ahead for the family. 

An island in the distance starts coming into view. It has an odd rock structure jutting out of the ground. Three tall plinths stuck out of the earth and reached towards the sky. The land surrounding them dipped into a circular crater equidistant from the center. Around the outer ring were eleven or twelve smaller stones jutting out of the ground. Raine had no idea what this place was, but she started to think that she had read about something like this before. She could only think that this was a ruin made from some ancient civilization as a means to tell time using the sun. That, or it appeared to be some kind of magic summoning circle.

Two days have passed since she was told of this detour.  


The sun begins to set a deep crimson on the horizon.  


The boat let down its anchor into the sea.  


And so began the longest and most harrowing night of Raine’s life.


End file.
